Sisters Emily and Lulu Rourke band together to lead Wellesley girls hockey to playoff win

By Kevin J. Stone/@kstone06

Monday

Mar 4, 2019 at 8:50 PMMar 4, 2019 at 9:00 PM

Emily scored the game's first goal with an assist going to LuLu before LuLu bookended the scoring with the final goal of the night as fifth-seeded Wellesley rolled past No. 12 Canton.

WATERTOWN — Emily and LuLu Rourke have been waiting a long time to play together on Wellesley's varsity girls hockey squad.

With Emily being a junior and LuLu a freshman this school year, that opportunity finally presented itself this season.

The two have loved the experience, so far, and on Monday night the pair of sisters made the most of their first playoff game together.

Emily scored the game's first goal with an assist going to LuLu before LuLu bookended the scoring with the final goal of the night as fifth-seeded Wellesley rolled past No. 12 Canton, 5-0, in a Division 2 first round game at John Ryan Arena in Watertown.

Wellesley (14-4-3) will face No. 4 Norwell – a team the Raiders saw during last year's playoff run – in a quarterfinal matchup with the time and date still to be determined.

"It's just been really great being able to play with my sister and share this experience with her," LuLu said. "It's a lifelong memory that will last for both of us, having this first season together and now having this first playoff game together."

"It really hypes you up not only when your team scores, but when you look over and see it’s your sister; it just makes it that much better," Emily said. "I just tried to let her know that the tournament is different in the sense that everyone knows this could be your last game. So you just have to leave it all out there."

Wellesley’s Rourke sisters discuss playing together and the overall experience of playing in the postseason@raidersgpuck@wellesleysports@MetroWestSportspic.twitter.com/7V70miihFN

— Kevin J. Stone (@kstone06)March 5, 2019

In a rematch of last year’s Div. 2 state title game, the Raiders made sure this playoff contest wasn’t as close as the 1-0 thriller at TD Garden last March. But Wellesley had spent nearly two weeks without facing an opponent before Monday.

"We were the last team across all of MIAA hockey – boys or girls – to play a playoff game," Wellesley coach PT Donato said. "I know some teams have even played three games since we have, but the reality is the other team doesn't care who or when you've played before that. We practiced really hard the last seven days and pushed ourselves to make sure we stayed in shape.

"We wanted to make sure we took care of everything we could control."

If there were any worries about the Raiders being flat, Donato didn't have to wait long to find out. That’s because LuLu dangled around the Canton defense and left a perfect drop pass for Sister Emily to finish for a score just 4:20 into the game.

With 9:29 to go in the first period, Bridget Noonan scored on the power play with an assist from Emily Rourke to go up 2-0.

Erin Fleming made it a 3-0 game early in the second, going bar-down on a wicked wrist shot for the unassisted tally. With 8:16 to go in the frame, Bliss Vernon finished off a goal going five-hole on Canton's goalie Ava Pacitti (21 saves).

The third period was littered with penalties galore but LuLu capped off the tremendous night for the Raiders with a highlight-reel goal, weaving through the Bulldogs from coast-to-coast before burying the puck for the final 5-0 margin.

While having two sisters on a team isn't groundbreaking by any means, Donato explained just how much it's meant to both the Rourkes.

"They've been more excited than anyone else to play together," Donato said. "They've never played or coached together as sisters. They never had the chance to because of that three-year age gap. They have this certain chemistry like they're just out there playing street hockey. LuLu is a really special player and Emily is a really good player in her own right, and their relationship has just helped make this an even more close-knit team."

Now, after going through one of its opponents on the road to the Garden, Wellesley will see another familiar foe in Norwell with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

"It's funny, we played Canton last year, we played Norwell last year and Algonquin is still out there too," Donato said. "We know Norwell's got a few really good players so it should be a good game."